Bangladeshi leader says more pressure needed on Myanmar over Rohingya

LONDON: Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Tuesday more international pressure was needed on Myanmar to take back Muslim Rohingya refugees.

“The international community needs to put more pressure on Myanmar so that they take back their own people and ensure their security,” she told an audience in London.

According to U.N. officials, nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh from Rakhine to escape a military crackdown since August, amid reports of murder, rape and arson by Myanmar troops and Buddhist vigilantes which the United Nations has likened to “ethnic cleansing”.

Myanmar has denied nearly all allegations, saying it has been waging a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

Hasina said Bangladesh had already submitted the names of 8,000 Rohingya families to Myanmar for repatriation but that so far they had not been taken back.Reuters